06-22-2008, 11:15 AM
Quote:The evolution of search has been described in terms of binary computer stages and has encompassed a number of dynamic changes over the past 13 years. Search Engine Land's Danny Sullivan summarized the progression of search in his keynote at SMX-West 2008 as follows.
* Search 1.0: Location and frequency of terms on the page -- 1994-1998
* Search 2.0: Off-page factors: PageRank and anchor text -- 1998-2008
* Search 3.0: Blended search -- 2007-2008
* Search 4.0: Personalized and social search -- 2007-2008
Search progress can also be described in terms of algorithm development:
1. Text Phase: Algorithms used the location and frequency of keywords on the page for ranking results. (1994 to 1998).
2. Link Phase: Algorithms focused more on off-page factors due to Google PageRank. Linking and anchor text became important for ranking results. (1998 to present).
3. Social Phase: Algorithms include past history and clickstream data; universal results include vertical databases (2007 to present).
4. Behavior Phase: Algorithms to include user intent (2008 and beyond).
full 7 page article: http://imediaconnection.com/content/19721.asp